Optical fiber bundles, which may also be referred to as fiber optic bundles, may be used in various applications that involve the transmission of light. An optical fiber bundle is an assembly of multiple optical fibers, each of which is capable of transmitting light from one end of the optical fiber to the other end. Many different types of medical instruments use optical fiber bundles for illumination, imaging, or both. An endoscope is one example of a medical instrument that uses optical fiber bundles. For example, an endoscope may be used to look inside the body at a particular internal organ. The endoscope may include one or more optical fiber bundles that are used for directing light towards the internal organ. The endoscope may also include one or more optical fiber bundles for capturing and carry an image of the internal organ to an eyepiece or some other type of image viewer.
In some optical devices, two or more optical fiber bundles may need to be coupled end-to-end. Ferrules are typically used for this type of coupling. However, currently available ferrules may not provide the desired interfacing percentage. The interfacing percentage indicates, for example, how well the optical fibers in a first optical fiber bundle overlap (i.e., match end to end) with the optical fibers in a second optical fiber bundle when the first and second optical fiber bundles are coupled together. A lower interfacing percentage may result in the loss of light that is conveyed between the two optical fiber bundles. Accordingly, more powerful light sources may be needed to account for the loss of light. These more powerful light sources may generate an undesired amount of heat at the location where the two optical fiber bundles are coupled. Thus, more efficient systems and methods for terminating optical fiber bundles are desirable.